Italy’s Golden Goose fashion brand, famous for its sneakers and controlled by Permira and its minor coinvestor Carlyle, is thinking of an ipo in New York in the coming months and is currently choosing the banks who are going to advise the company in its listing, Unquote writes.
A spokesperson for Golden Goose said: “This is inaccurate speculation. We are not currently actively exploring options with any banks and have no timetable”.
We recall that Permira had acquired control of Golden Goose in June 2020 (see here a previous article by BeBeez) on the ground of an enterprise value of 1.28 billion euros, equal to 13x the 100 million euros of then expected ebitda for the 2020 (see here a previous article by BeBeez). Golden Goose then closed FY 2020 with 265.9 million euros in revenues (from 263.4 millions in 2019), an adjusted ebitda of just 69.3 millions due to Covid-19 impact (from 91.4 millions) and a total financial debt of 593.7 millions, of which 470 millions relating to the bridge financing to support the buyout, 25 millions relating to a revolving line and the rest consisting of leasing contracts.
Permira had acquired 83% of the company, while the seller Carlyle had kept a minority stake and the management in turn had reinvested for an 8%. Also holding a minority stake is DVR Capital, the private equity operator founded by Carlo Daveri, who had previously been a shareholder of Golden Goose alongside Ergon Capital in 2015.
In May 2021 the group then placed a 480 million euro bond to refinance the 470 million euro bridge financing contract to support the buyout (see here a previous article by BeBeez). The issue, according to the Prospectus of the bond, which was listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, expires in 2027, was placed at the price of 98 cents and pays a variable coupon equal to the 3-month Euribor rate (with a floor at zero) plus 4.875% per year, with quarterly reset. The Moody’s bond has assigned a B2 rating and FitchRatings a B + rating.
Founded in 2000, Golden Goose is led by ceo Silvio Campara and chaired by Maureen Chiquet, former global ceo of Chanel from 2003 to 2016, is based in Venice and its products are distributed all over the world through a network of exclusive multi-brand stores and franchises. , together with the directly managed flagship stores.
Last December Golden Goose was awarded the prize for the fashion sector of the Pambianco Award leQuotabili21 (ie potential listed companies) edition and on that occasion the ceo Mr. Campara declared: “Receiving the leQuotabili recognition is an honor for the whole Golden Family and for our shareholders. In these first 20 years, Golden has distinguished itself for the creation of value through its products and its communities, the goal is to continue in this direction in an authentic and far-sighted way. A possible future opening of the company’s capital could be valued, including the Stock Exchange“.
(Article modified on March 17th – including the spokeperson’s statement)
